Silent Words
by Turtle Kid the Woolgatherer
Summary: Complete AU Their life, though not perfect, was good. And then it all went bad. slight Fruits Basket crossover WARNING: character death
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: Don't own D.N.Angel.

* * *

Daisuke swung his legs back and forth, the bed springs creaking under his weight. His brother scratched his purple hair, staring out their window.

The silence was uncomfortable, like the ones that had happened all those years ago when they were ten. Daisuke gulped, blushing. "So . . . To-To really did that, huh?"

Dark glanced at his brother. "Oh, she did much more than that. I swear she was trying to molest me," he said, leaning back in his chair with that 'oh-so-casual' air of his.

Daisuke fell over.

"_HOW CAN YOU BE SO **CALM **ABOUT THIS?"_

Dark winked. "It's in my blood."

Daisuke mumbled, "Yeah, right. Mom and Dad are _really_ calm about anything," a glare, "and everything," the glare got worse.

Dark sweat-dropped. "Um, yes, Dad is."

Daisuke sighed, letting the fire die out. (Dark breathed out a huge sigh of relief that he faked as a cough.)

"Yeah, well, I just hope we can go downstairs soon. I mean, putting together a birthday party doesn't take that long, does it? And wh-" Daisuke frowned, growing concerned. "Are you okay, Dark?"

Dark, having choked on the fake cough and started coughing for real, snagged for his last threads of dignity. "Oh, yes." He cleared his throat. "Quite all right." He breathed deeply. "Now, what were you saying?"

"Hu-? Oh, right. And why do they bother setting up a surprise party? We already know who's coming, what time it is, and all the decorations. WE WERE THE ONES WHO PICKED THEM OUT _YESTERDAY!"_

Dark sighed, wondering how his brother could be so moved to anger just by thinking of their birthday. "It's not the present, it's the way it was given. What thought was put into it." Dark nodded to himself. _Yes. That sounds like that proverb-crap that always calmed Daisuke down._

"But a party isn't a gift, per se," Daisuke shot back, determined to be in a bad mood to make Dark feel bad and buy him lunch the next day.

_Or not._

Now Dark felt bad, not knowing how "Evil Daisuke" worked, not seeing that side of his brother enough.

"Look, I'm sor-"

_**BANG- CRASH**_

The boys froze, glancing at each other and at the door. That . . . didn't sound good.

Daisuke sprang from the bed, dashing for the door on silent feet, pulling it open and breaking the lock from the door. Dark ran after (wondering how the hell Daisuke broke steel). "Daisuke, stop!" he whispered/yelled, sliding on the tile. Daisuke didn't stop, but continued for the door, reaching it just as it burst open to slam him against the wall.

Dark skidded to a standstill, staring wide-eyed at the intruder. He was dressed in black, gun in hand, no distinguishable features.

The man seemed surprised to have something blocking the door, and the gun dropped to the ground as he stared at the boy he'd crunched into the wall. "What the-" He froze. He didn't talk again, simply lunged to the ground, grabbing for the metal, but . . . that allowed Dark to see behind the man.

It was their mother, still sitting on the couch, but hands spread along the table to, he thought, stop herself from falling. He looked at her red hair, then at her even redder clothes. _Mom. . . ._

The burglar, by that time, had raised the gun a little bit, trying to aim higher than Dark's feet. Dark glanced to the side, even then retaining some of his sanity.

There was Daisuke, opening his red eyes blearily, blood running down his face and into his mouth.

There was a line between death and pain. Death he could handle. Pain he couldn't. He turned narrowed eyes onto the man in front of him who was up to his kneecaps now.

Dark was a nice guy. A pervert, yes, but he could control himself when he wanted to (Not that he ever actually wanted to. . . .) He never cried for his own losses, letting other people use him like a wall to hold them up. He never played pranks that actually hurt people or got in the way of their studying (his brother did _not_ count). In fact, he'd never gotten mad more than two times in his life! (Hey, those bullies were beating on Daisuke!)

Did he get annoyed? Of course! Did he beat people up for fun? The guys, sure! But. . . .

He'd never been this angry before.

That guy never had a chance.


	2. Mrs Harada

Dark wouldn't, no, _couldn't_ talk. His vocal chords wouldn't work. At the hearing he just sat there, staring blankly ahead, and let Daisuke do the talking.

The burglar's mother blamed them for the death of her child. Daisuke was left alone (with the help of their lawyer) to say his brother had done it in self defense.

In court they had won unanimously on the first day, and then there was the question of where to put them.

But Dark didn't care. He just sat, thinking. It made Daisuke uneasy to see his twin like this, so unfeeling that he didn't even try to grope the Defense's lawyer. It just wasn't right!

Yuki walked up to them, briefcase swinging as he stopped. "I have some news on where you are going to live." He paused, but only Daisuke looked up at him. He smiled the humorless smile that hadn't left him since school. "It's your Aunt Renko's house, with her daughters Risa and Riku. They're twins like you." He saw Daisuke's eyes sparkle slightly at that. His smile became a grimace as he swept his shoulder-length hair behind his shoulders. _I'll have to get this cut or I'll start looking like Aayame._

He unconsciously shivered.

"How come we've never heard of these cousins before?"

_I should have known they would be suspicious. I would be, too. _"I wouldn't know other than maybe it's because you've lived in separate cities.

Daisuke still didn't like it. Their mother had never even mentioned them, and there had to be a reason. But, since there wasn't really much more they could do . . .

* * *

They stood outside the house, Yuki in front and leading them through the front garden which was more like a jungle. There hadn't been a lot of talking on the way there, what with Dark not talking and Yuki preferring silence, but Daisuke was still jumpy despite the fact that nobody but him seemed worried.

Yuki rang the bell. There was a small jingle on the other side, then silence.

". . . Do you think they're even home?"

Before Yuki could answer, a girl of around eleven with long, black hair and a cute face answered the door. "Ah, hello," she smiled. "Mother said you'd be coming." The girl cast a glance over her shoulder. "Please, come in." She gestured them inside, then looked expectantly at Yuki.

"Sorry, but I have to leave for a previous engagement." The girl frowned, cocking her head to the side. "I've already spoken to your mother, but I need her to fill out these forms." Yuki pulled out a thick packet of paperwork, bowed, and turned to leave. The girl seemed stunned, then she bowed back before silently closing the door.

As Yuki opened the door to his car, he froze. Years of having Kyo glare at him and fan girls stalk him had made it so he could tell just when someone was staring at him. He turned back, glancing around the garden. But the chances of finding anything in there were in the negative scale.

He shrugged, deciding it wasn't worth the trouble.

* * *

As the girl closed the door Dark glanced around suspiciously. Something about the house just didn't seem right. He glanced over to the side, watching as his brother became infatuated with the chick just because she was closing the door.

He mentally snorted. Daisuke was taking off his shoes hurriedly.

The girl turned around to smile at them. "Hello, nice to meet you." She bowed low. "I'm Harada Risa."

Daisuke flushed, then bowed so low he nearly fell over. "Um, nice to meet you, too." He stood back up. "I'm Niwa Daisuke, and this is Dark," he gestured to his brother. Risa nodded, then stopped to stare at Dark.

_Great. Another fan girl, and one that Daisuke likes, too._

"I'm supposed to have you meet my mother," she mumbled, looking down with a blush.

Daisuke seemed to miss this as he nodded, cheerfully as ever, "Okay!"

Dark shook his head. Even after their parents were murdered Daisuke would jump right back up, just so people wouldn't worry.

That was so like him.

Risa led them down a long hallway. It didn't twist and turn, but there were a few rooms and other halls branching off in different directions. She walked slowly, giving the boys time to look around and keep track of where they were.

Eventually she stopped at a rather unremarkable door leading to the right. She pushed open the door, revealing a large living room with three couches, five chairs, and eight coffee tables. There sat Mrs. Harada, sipping tea silently before setting the cup down carefully.

"Harada-san," Risa said quietly before the woman turned to look at them, "The Niwa's are here."

Mrs. Harada sighed, straightening up and dusting herself off before turning to the boys. Her face was the picture of perfection, but Daisuke had eyes for only Risa and Dark was too used to beautiful ladies throwing themselves at him that he couldn't bother to care. "It is nice to meet you Daisuke-chan," -Daisuke looked dismayed for a second- "and you, Dark-kun." She bowed low. Daisuke and Dark bowed too, a smile on Daisuke's face.

When Mrs. Harada straightened she no longer looked quite so pretty. "Now, we have some rules in this house that everyone follows." Daisuke's face plummeted and Dark's ears perked up. _This could be interesting. . . ._ "These rules are in the letter," she threw the paper at them gracefully, which Daisuke caught easily. "Now, please Risa, show them their room."

Risa nodded and bowed before exiting. Daisuke followed suit and ran after her. Dark didn't bother.

They climbed the tall staircase, it swirled around a large stone pillar that looked like granite, but, if one looked carefully, they could have seen the paint chipping away in some corners. The second floor was a long hall with eleven doors, five on each side and one at the very end. Risa led them to the last two rooms, glanced around and seemed satisfied with something. "Yes," she muttered, absently running her hands across the gray door behind her. "You can live in these rooms, either one, from your own choosing." She turned back to them and smiled.

_Cute, definitely cute. But soooooo no my type._

Risa drifted down the hallway, turning a corner so they could no longer see her. Daisuke turned back to Dark, blushing. ". . . So . . . what's in the letter?" he said to break the silence. Dark glanced at the hand that still held Mrs. Harada's letter. ". . . Oh! Right!" Daisuke's blush deepened. He coughed a little, ripping the paper shakily. His eyes blazed over it quickly, stopped, then zoomed back to the top of the page and began more slowly. He looked shocked, then handed the note over to Dark.

It was written in cursive, the kind that was very flowery and nearly impossible to read. Of course, the Niwa's, although not well known for doing the impossible, could.

1) Memorize this letter.

2) Always be ready to have dinner at exactly seven.

3) Never go through the door in the back of the hallway where your rooms are.

4) Take one bath everyday at eight sharp.

5) Never even think _(the think was underlined many times.)_ of my daughters in a rude way.

6) No loud games inside the house.

7) Do not leave the grounds without my permission.

8) When you do leave, do not give out where you live.

9) If you are to be out after five call every thirty minutes starting from them.

10) Disobey orders from me or Risa and you will be punished in a necessary manner.

There was silence for a minute, before Dark looked up at Daisuke. He looked so nervous that Dark couldn't help it.

He grinned.

* * *

AN: Sorry, but I had to make Risa and Riku's mother mean. It's part of the plot . . . sorta'. Riku is coming soon, wait for it!

I'm not very sure on the workings of law, so I probably got stuff wrong. Deal with it.

Also, I will try not to do any original characters. Yuki is from Fruits Basket.


	3. Things That Go Bump In The Night

Daisuke didn't see Dark's smile. If he had he probably would have yelled out loud, then glomped his elder brother. As it happened, he simply stood in the hall for a time before snapping out of it.

"What?" he snapped, then blushed. "Sorry," he muttered, looking away from Dark who was staring at him.

Dark shook his head, pushing Daisuke towards the room to the left, taking the door to the right for himself.

Dark scanned over the paper quickly. There seemed to be something wrong with the way it was worded, but he just couldn't figure it out.

* * *

Daisuke, not used to sleeping in a room by himself, stared at the ceiling. Deciding he better get to sleep he turned on his left side.

. . . Nope, didn't work.

Sighing, he tried his right side.

. . . Okay, what about the middle?

He laid flat on his stomach, found out he couldn't breath, and rolled onto his right again.

. . . Well, he might have gotten to sleep that time if he hadn't fallen off the bed.

Muttering curses no one knew he knew (since they all thought he was really innocent, the idiots) he climbed back onto the bed. He decided, what the Hell, and lay on his back completely still.

He was just about to drift off, when he heard a thump.

Daisuke wasn't scared, no, he just jumped under his covers so fast his baby-blue sheets nearly had whiplash.

After several minutes, when the sound didn't repeat itself, Daisuke, slowly pulled down his covers.

He looked above him, from where the sound came from, to see a crack. Just a little crack, about a hair wide and running all around his room. But mostly they were directed right above his bed, spidering out in all directions at once.

Daisuke frowned, deciding he didn't want to know exactly _why_ he'd just heard a thump and then seen the cracks in the ceiling. Nope, not at all. . . .

Daisuke looked over at the clock. It was about ten . . . Dark should still be awake.

Daisuke sat up quietly, sliding off and crouching down, holding down the bed with his hand and easing it up gradually to make sure no springs squeaked. Once he was content with the way things were, he smoothed out his sheets so Mrs. Harada couldn't get him for cleanliness issues.

He danced to the door, unconsciously avoiding the squeaky boards that he'd noticed on his way to bed. The door opened silently on well oiled hinges (Daisuke supposed that Mrs. Harada liked the old style doors, or something) as he peeked out, his bright red hair and eyes somehow dulling in a way natural to the Niwas.

Since there was no one outside he crept across the hall to Darks room, only to find it locked.

Now, how could a simple lock, especially for an old door, stop a relative of Darks?

As Daisuke closed the door behind him he looked around the room. Dark was on his bed, paper on his face and breathing deeply and evenly. "Dark?" Daisuke never called Dark his brother. It just sounded weird.

Dark's breath hitched, then he pulled the paper off his face to look at Daisuke with a curious expression.

"Can I sleep with you?" Dark cocked an eyebrow. ". . . Okay, you're a sicko," Daisuke said in disgust. Dark smirked, throwing the paper on the ground and pulling back the covers (also, coincidentally, baby blue). Daisuke ran over, sliding under the covers and grabbing Dark to use as his teddy bear.

And that was how the brothers slept - in comfort to know that someone else felt their pain and was right there next to them.

* * *

Risa winced as she accidentally fell, and right over Daisuke's room, no less. She heard a small "Eeep!" from below and paused, hearing the sheets rustling. She slowly put down her hands, eyes widening as she felt the tiny cracks in the plaster.

She hadn't thought the attic would be this unstable, and especially for her. After all--

"It's okay," he sister murmured, pulling up her small body to dust off, avoiding the cracks herself as to not make them worse. "We'll just have to be more careful from now on."

Risa nodded, sighing in relief as Riku pulled away. "Well," she whispered back, holding up her basket of food, "here is your breakfast, lunch and dinner," she joked. The joke itself was quite old, made up years ago when this all started, but it still made Riku smile.

"Thanks." She took the basket, turning to tread carefully around the breaks. Risa, relieved of her burden, was now light enough to ghost over the ceiling.

"So, was your day good?" she asked as Riku piled in her leftover food, the fruit and veggies already bad.

"It would have been better if--," she stopped to keep her voice from rising and waking the one below her, ". . . if I could have gone outside."

Risa nodded. Riku had always been the one who loved to run, being tomboyish and pretty. Risa would even admit to occasionally envying her sister . . . but not now.

If only Riku had gone instead.

But that was all in the past.

"Well, mother is waiting," she smiled. "At least you sleep."

Riku gave a disbelieving snort. "Well, I'm almost done with Watership Down. I'll need a new book tomorrow."

Risa gave another nod. "Alright."

Then she left.


	4. Missing Letter

Dark yawned, blinking at the darkness. He glanced down at the warmth on his chest and his gaze softened.

Then he shoved Daisuke off his bed.

"Oooph."

He snickered into the night, masking his face into one of innocence as soon as Daisuke looked up to glare at him. Daisuke promptly started gagging.

An innocent Dark was scary.

Once he had his breath back, he glared at his brother. "What was that for?"

Dark pointed to the clock.

Daisuke glanced over, eyes widening when he saw the flashing red lights—er—flashing 10:37.

Daisuke yelped, scrambling up and running into the door in an attempt to leave the room as quickly as possible.

Dark laughed, before calming down enough to undress and redress in better attire. He checked the floor, and frowned.

The paper was missing.

His gaze wandered all over the room, eyes becoming more jerky and moving faster as his search for the paper continued. He crouched down, jogged into the bathroom, made his bed (Gasp!), opened every drawer, and even checked his own clothes -- but all in vain.

_Stupid paper!_

Dark screamed in fury!

Then stopped.

He cocked his head to the side, frowning. He tried talking.

No sound came out.

His purple eyes widened significantly.

* * *

Daisuke dashed around his room, putting his clothes away that he'd forgotten to last night. He didn't know how his stuff had gotten up here in the first place. It had just sort-of appeared there when he'd gone to his room. Did that mean Risa had pulled all the baggage up those flights of stairs? But Risa had been with them the whole time. True, he hadn't been staring at her the whole time (just a little), but it certainly took more time than a few seconds to get heavy stuff upstairs and come back down. Right?

Right.

Unless she was some sort of superhero like Superman or Flash. . . .

He squealed in typical fangirl fashion. Imagine: Daisuke marrying Risa, the Superbuff Lady!

JOLT

"Ouch!" Daisuke jumped, rubbing his behind and whirling around.

There was nobody there.

Daisuke frowned, realized he was groping himself, blushed, and let go of his butt.

* * *

Dark frowned, thinking.

The paper was gone, and he was absolutely _positive_ that he'd thrown it on the floor.

. . . Okay, so that wasn't exactly the best place to put something important he was trying to figure out, but he was only human! Nobody's perfect. . . .

_Daisuke._

Nodding to himself, he opened his door, crossed the hall, and opened Daisuke's door (because he knew Daisuke always forgot to lock doors).

"Ack! Dark!" Dark swiveled his eyes to his brother, noticing how his shirt was off but his pajama bottoms were still on.

He walked over, knelt down, and pulled on the bottom of Daisuke's pajama bottoms.

"WOAH!" THUMP ". . . Ouch."

Dark went through the pants thoroughly, but the paper was nowhere to be found. He went over to the crumpled up sleeping shirt.

"HEY, DARK! WHAT DO YOU THink . . . you're. . . . Um, Dark?"

Nope. Not there either.

He threw the pajama bottoms into Daisuke's face -- "ACKIES!" -- and went back to his own room, shoving a random chair under the doorknob to stop Daisuke from doing anything to his dear old elder brother.

He'd just have to go by memory.

_Okay._

_1) Letter memorize. _

Check.

_2) . . . Something about dinner at seven._

We haven't had dinner yet. . . .

_3) Um . . . the . . . door in the hallway! Yeah, that was it! Don't go into it. _

Okay so far.

_4) Bath at eight._

Didn't do that either.

_5) Daughters. Don't think about them in a rude way or you will be castrated, or something along those lines._

Well, that was no problem. Risa wasn't his type anyways.

_6) No loud ga--_

Wait.

. . . Daughters?

* * *

Downstairs, Mrs. Harada sipped her morning tea, watching the edges of her letter -- _her mistake_ -- crumple up and burn. It was lucky she'd made a rough draft and looked it over a final time before going to bed, just to check for errors.

Lucky. . . .

So _damned **lucky**_. . . .

The irony was not lost on her.

As she laughed, she set down her empty cup.

* * *

Risa scurried in, taking the cup and cleaning it up, running back to the kitchen. She came back so fast with the rug cleaner that she floated. She bent down, spraying the carpet to catch all the tea her mother had "drunk".

Risa wrinkled her nose once she was sure her mother wasn't looking. Why did her mother always have to drink her morning tea?

It wasn't like she could taste it, anyways. . . .


	5. Goodbye Lawyer

"So, how do you like your breakfast?" Risa smiled sweetly.

"Um, it's very good," Daisuke mumbled, blushing.

JOLT

"WAAAAA!"

THUMP

". . . Uh, are you . . . alright?"

Daisuke nodded from his position on the floor, starting to get up. "I'm perfectly fi--"

CLANK

The table jolted.

"OUCH!"

Daisuke rubbed the back of his head, sitting once again in his chair. "Eheh. . . . Sorry 'bout that. . . ."

Risa gave him a concerned look. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Daisuke nodded. He'd been more surprised than hurt (though his head still smarted).

* * *

Dark slurped at his cereal, slightly disgusted at the display of puppy love in front of him—coming from his own _brother_ no less.

"So," Dark switched his attention to Mrs. Harada, "I have read here," she gestured to the papers beside her own, empty plate (Dark hasn't even seen her eat), "that you have not talked since the . . . incident. Correct?"

Yes, she had wonderful tact.

Dark nodded, eyes going hazy.

Maybe, if he hadn't gotten lost in his own memories at that moment, he would have seen the look on her face. The ghost of a smile, the upward twist of the lips, the start of a sneer.

The gleam in her eyes.

"Interesting. . . ."

But he did, so he didn't.

* * *

At three, Daisuke came up to Mrs. Harada. "Harada-san," he began hesitantly, "Can me and Dark go into the city?"

"What for?"

Daisuke flinched at her harsh tone. "Uh—um—I was thinking the arcade. . . ."

* * *

Mrs. Harada paused in consideration.

_Well, there is one thing I need Risa to do for me, and Daisuke and Dark can't be here for **that**._

"Very well. But remember," she shook her fingers in his face, smiling a more motherly smile, "no telling where you live."

". . . May I ask . . . why, exactly?"

"Well, our family is well known, and if you tell people where you live they might come and visit. If you cannot tell already, I am a private person."

Wow, she was good at thinking on her feet! Making something up like that, without sounding the least bit unsure. . . .

"Ah. I'll be sure to tell Dark!" Daisuke flashed her a bright smile before turning around, running up the staircase to Dark's room.

Mrs. Harada _knew_ that motherly smile was a good thing to learn.

* * *

Once she was sure the brothers had left, Mrs. Harada called Risa to her. She sat on the floor in the middle of the room, eyes closed in meditation.

Risa crept in silently, stopping to kneel in front of her mother.

Mrs. Harada opened her eyes, watching Risa like a predator.

"There is a certain lawyer that I slipped up on."

Risa raised her eyebrows. _Mother must be really put out about having someone else in her house to keep making these mistakes._ "Don't worry, mother." She gave her mother a sweet smile, hating what she was being told to do and helpless to say no. "I will take care of him."

* * *

Dark frowned in concentration, touching his foot lightly to the forward arrow, jumping up to get the front and back arrow at the same time, and ending up with a weird combination as a finish. Many people clapped as he got off of the Dance Dance Revolution machine. Daisuke scowled at him, muttering, "Showoff," under his breath.

Dark smirked a smirk that no one saw.

Daisuke jumped up from the seat sticky with soda, making a face. "Ew," he mumbled before turning back to Dark. "My turn!"

Dark handed Daisuke three coins, watching as Daisuke made a beeline for a shooting game.

Sure, they had bad memories with guns, but that didn't stop them from playing them in the arcade.

At least, it didn't stop Daisuke. . . .

"Yeah, they were twins! And man were they P-H-A-T!"

Dark glanced over at the teenagers from where he was leaning against a game. They were also leaning against yet _another_ game a few feet away. Evidently boys with more testosterone than brains. Not worth the 'Great Dark's' time or interest.

He was getting ready to ignore them when one of the boys said something that sounded almost familiar. "That's perfect! They're twins like you! Awesome!"

* * *

"_It's your Aunt Renko's house, with her daughters Risa and Riku. They're twins like you."_

* * *

Dark froze, cocked his head to the side, and frowned.

_Riku. . . ._

* * *

Yuki woke up to a hangover. After that Anniversary party last night between Kyo and Tohru he hadn't expected to wake up this early.

He checked the clock.

4:13 P.M.

. . . Yes, that was _extremely_ early.

Groaning, he slid off the bed, intent on getting into a very cold shower so he could call Kagura and explain just _why_ he was so late for work without throwing up or falling back asleep.

That's when he felt it.

The eyes.

Yuki stopped, frowning and cocking his head to the side despite an alarming headache and the protests of his neck and shoulders.

These eyes felt different from last times. Almost malicious, while the other had been merely curious. And yet . . . these eyes weren't _quite_ malicious.

His head started to whirl as he tried to make sense of things in the early morning—er—afternoon, having trouble doing what he did every day of his life. Analyzing.

Was it . . . pity he felt in those eyes?

It was, indeed, pity.

He stood there, in the middle of the room, swaying to-and-fro, when Risa struck.

* * *

"Harada-san, it is done."


	6. News Caster

Dark was silent on the way home.

Not that that was weird or anything now, but he was somehow more silent than before.

. . . I will now give up attempting to explain his silence.

He was . . . worried, for some odd reason he couldn't figure out. Then suspicion about what, exactly, was going on. Curiosity. Who was this Riku person, besides being a twin to Risa?

Well, from what he'd gathered so far, she was female . . . probably eleven, like her sister . . . and wasn't anywhere in the house.

. . . Right.

* * *

_Mrs. Harada frowned, scrunching her face in irritation. She was far sighted and had to wear glasses to read **any** of this rubbish, never mind filling it out. And she had to keep concentrating just to keep the glasses perched on her nose, otherwise they would fall off._

_All in all, it would be a while before she actually got to the part where she would accept the children into her custody._

_Mrs. Harada didn't actually want to have them here—from what she'd heard, one was a playboy—but, seeing as she didn't want her bloodline to run out, and not one to turn down family—yes, she had priorities in order—she decided, after much thought, to not turn Dark and Daisuke away._

_She would have to have one of them marry Riku. She didn't know of anyone else. For Risa, downright impossible._

_And this was the point in time where she messed up on, and put down Riku's name._

_Not Dark. That was the playboy one._

_Daisuke would do._

_They weren't actually cousins, anyway. More like second cousins._

_So there would be no problem with children having any defects. Or being more likely to contract disease._

* * *

_Days later, after she'd accepted the . . . **charming** young boys, she was looking over the papers that lawyer wanted Risa to give her._

_She sighed in exasperation, picking up the glasses once again from the chair._

_Mrs. Harada coughed to herself, straightening the papers and setting them on the desk before reading on._

_A short time later. . . ._

_She stopped, freezing, then checked the clock even though she knew she wasn't tired. She _couldn't_ be tired! It was impossible!_

_The clocks hands read 10:36. She looked outside. It was morning._

_She read the last part again, praying she hadn't made a mistake._

_-- . . . your daughters, Risa and Riku . . . --_

_As the clock clicked into place at 10:37, Mrs. Harada let loose her emotions, unknowingly waking Dark from his deep slumber._

_The glasses fell._

* * *

Daisuke sat on the couch next to his brother, watching TV. As Mrs. Harada didn't believe in cartoons . . . for some odd reason . . . they had only one channel, and that was devoted to twenty-four hour news coverage.

He glanced over at Dark, taking in the misty eyed expression and the fact that he was gazing out the window.

Daisuke sighed, switching his gaze back to the television and the old man reading the news.

The problem with Daisuke was: you put a TV show in front of him and, whether he hated it or not, he would watch it.

He froze, eyes going wide in shock.

"Oh my God."

* * *

Dark jolted out of his reverie, snapping his gaze to the television.

* * *

" _. . . And the lawyer, Yuki Sohma, was found dead in his apartment this afternoon after his cousin came to get him for work," the man said next to a picture of a handsome silver haired, purple eyed beauty. The old man somehow acted sorry while his eyes remained blank, showing anyone who knew how to watch eyes that he either was an unfeeling bastard or he'd been in the job too long to care anymore._

_It was all a drop in the bucket, to him._

"_Footage is not being released at this time. . . ."_

* * *

Dark felt Daisuke's gaze on him.

"Dark . . ." he started hesitantly. ". . . Isn't Yuki _our_ lawyer?"

Dark thought about saying no, realized Daisuke would be able to see through it, and told the truth.

He nodded.


	7. Picture Of A Mouth

Dark lay in bed thinking.

They hadn't really explored the house yet, so maybe, if he did that, Riku would appear . . . magically. . . . Oh yes, he needed a therapist terribly.

Dark rolled over.

_(3) Never go through the door in the back of the hallway where your rooms are.)_

_. . . I'm an idiot._

But if he wanted to get to the—erm—attic, then it would have to be at night.

When Risa and Mrs. Harada were asleep.

* * *

Risa glided up the stairs, jumping over the creaking stairs with long practiced movements. The darkness all around, which used to scare her, was now comforting. Nothing could _really_ hurt her, after all. And monsters? Ghosts?

_Don't make me laugh._

Risa heard her sister yawn and placed a smile on her face. "Sleep well?" She went along the edges of the attic to avoid the cracks above Daisuke's bed.

"It's so humid during the day," Riku mumbled, yawning. "I need a shower."

Risa winced sympathetically. "Don't worry. I think Harada-san will lock them up soon."

"I don't want her to get _them_ either!" Riku pleaded with her eyes.

Risa felt ashamed.

"I'm . . . sorry, but you _know_ how Harada-san is. She's . . . unstable." Risa sighed. "And I can't protect you if she goes into a rage again. It's not like she can do anything to me." The last sentence was mumbled, and she lowered her face. "Last time was too close for comfort."

Because of the bond they shared, or perhaps because they were twins, Riku could tell. Risa had her head down, hair hiding her eyes, a hand tugging at her dress while the other held her basket.

Nervousness.

". . . Risa. . . ." She glanced up, hopeful, but by the expression in her sibling's eyes (the most expressive part of her) it wasn't a good thing she was about to ask. ". . . Did you do something?"

Risa never lied to her sister. It was an unwritten rule after what happened to never keep anything from one another. The way Riku was looking at her, if she didn't give her the right answer it would be painful.

But it was already too painful to bear.

A nod.

The eyes hardened.

It hurt. Bad.

Tears were rolling down her face.

Riku was expressionless.

". . . Is it . . . irreversible?"

It was so quiet it was suffocating.

Risa choked.

Another nod.

". . ." Riku got up. She didn't say a word. She traded their baskets, and when the time came to accept her book, she carefully avoided any contact whatsoever.

She usually wasn't that careful.

Neither of them noticed a shadow outside the small, circular window on the far side of the attic, and if they had they would have thought the moon was just being covered by clouds. No person could get to that position without flying. It was impossible.

They had obviously never seen their cousins, the Niwas, in training.

* * *

Daisuke yawned, stretching his hands above his head.

It was almost morning, the sky was barely changing into a pink, and, for some unfathomable reason, he was awake at . . . (here Daisuke checked the clock) . . . three in the morning.

Now, the question of the hour: 'Why is Daisuke up this early when he has trouble getting up at eleven?'

The only answer to this would have to be something woke him up, but what he had no idea. He supposed a noise could have come from the attic. . . .

Daisuke shivered.

He'd told himself since yesterday morning that if he slept with Dark again he would only end up getting pushed out, but still.

He was lonely.

In a house this big, with only four people, it was lonesome. And then Yuki died . . . which was depressing, even though he didn't know him that well. He seemed nice enough, maybe a little overly stiff—er—formal, but overall a good guy.

Daisuke blinked sleepily, deciding he might as well draw a little bit since he had nothing better to do.

The red-haired boy got up from his bed, shaking his head in an attempt to rid himself of some sleep. He ghosted over the floor, stopping in front of his suitcase. He dug through it carefully before pulling out a thick, red book, half full of doodles and drawings. He picked out his pens, pencils, eraser, and sharpener.

He practically bounced back to his bed, so happy to be doing something he enjoyed. He tried drawing Risa, but failed miserably and simply scribbled all around the page so no one would be able to tell what it was. Then he tried his brother, but that was another scribble.

He didn't even consider drawing his mom and dad.

His eyelids drooping, he just started to draw anything that suited his fancy. A bear, a neighbors cat, a tree, a. . . .

He feel over to the side, somehow missing his eye with the pencil.

But. . . .

On the last paper was a machine, detailed and shaded, shining in all the right places. It had only one knob on the front, which said PRESS TO ACTIVATE underneath. It was in black and white, but anyone looking could tell that that button was meant to be red. Squarish and big, with the occasional circular part, it looked nothing less than a gaping mouth made of geometrical features.

And there was a certain woman standing in front of that machine.

* * *

Mrs. Harada walked through the halls towards the boy's rooms. She looked at Darks door, tempted to look into his first for some reason, but she resisted, knowing Daisuke was more important.

She turned to Daisuke's door, choosing instead to ignore all levels of physics and walk right through it. She glanced around the room with a calculated eye, taking in the paper scattered all around, and her eyes widened.

_He had paper?_

She hurried around, picking up all the scraps and concentrating hard so she didn't drop them, even going so far as to get all the things he drew with. She picked up the paper Daisuke was clutching to himself last, just to make sure he was really asleep. Now, Mrs. Harada was a very good person at controlling her emotions, so these past days were doing wonders for her mentality. (Note the sarcasm.) But, when she saw what he'd drawn, she couldn't help it.

She downright gasped.

The time was 4:02.

* * *

Daisuke jerked awake without warning, glancing around.

The first thing he noticed was his papers were gone. Completely vanished. Now, why did that worry him? Oh, yeah. He was bored and took them out.

_Huh. Must have put them back and I forgot. . . ._

He fell back asleep.

The clock changed to 4:03.


	8. Charades

Daisuke yawned, stretching his head above his figure.

It was nine or so in the morning, meaning, inside his mind, that he shouldn't have even been up yet. Unfortunately for him, he didn't have much say in the matter. Once he was up, he was up.

At least, usually. . . .

* * *

Dark frantically searched his room for the picture of a bunny Daisuke had given him when they were three. It was a stupid picture, and the bunny actually looked more like a giraffe, but it was the first thing his brother had ever attempted to draw, and therefor very precious. (Though he made sure Daisuke thought he'd burned it a long time ago -- Dark was no touchy-feely crybaby!)

Eventually, though, he had to admit it wasn't anywhere in the room, so that could only mean. . . .

He'd left it in the house.

_Crap._

Well, he was never going back there for as long as he lived, so he'd no longer be able to see that picture. . . .

But that wasn't the point. He wasn't looking for the paper to reminisce, he needed it to talk to Daisuke! And Daisuke always had a pen or pencil lying around . . . even though his bunnies _still_ looked like giraffes. . . .

Deciding it was fruitless, he wandered over to Daisuke's side, letting himself in without a seconds thought.

"ACK! DARK!"

Ignoring the glares his brother sent him he went over to the suitcase, rummaging through it for the art book (cough-crap-book-cough). Even though Daisuke would kill him for writing in the place for his _precious_ drawings, at least he would die with the knowledge that Daisuke knew what was going on.

As much as he himself knew, anyway.

Frowning when he realized it wasn't there, he turned back to Daisuke.

* * *

Daisuke frowned, cocking his head to the side as Dark held up his hands vertically to the ground, touching each other, before turning them so they lay horizontally, the pinkies still touching. Then he repeated the movement several time before holding up his left hand horizontally, right hand hovering like he was holding a stick, and moving it back and forth across his left hand.

Daisuke blinked. "Is this charades. . . ?" He'd never been very good at charades.

Dark hit his head on the nearest blank wall. Repeatedly.

* * *

Sometime later Dark was frantically searching the house, looking for anything to write with.

Mrs. Harada wouldn't mind if he used a wall, would she?

He growled to himself, stamping his foot like a five-year-old throwing a temper tantrum.

"Excuse me?"

He whirled around, tensing as he saw Risa blink at him, smiling uncertainly. "S-supper is ready . . ." she trailed off as she took in his glare, before he stomped off.

* * *

Risa was hurt.

She frowned. There wasn't anything she'd done, had she? At least, not that he would know about. No pranks, no accidentally wandering in when he was taking a shower, absolutely nothing!

_What did I do?_

* * *

Reflecting on dinner, Daisuke supposed it could have gone better. There was a burning tenseness between Risa and Dark all night. Then Dark kept giving Mrs. Harada the cold shoulder and was eventually sent up to his room.

He heard the whoosh of air meaning that the door was opening.

Daisuke turned around, then smiled.

"Good evening, Harada-san. What are you doing up so early?"

For some reason, he had a bad feeling.

* * *

Mrs. Harada really felt bad about doing this, but Dark had been acting cold to her all evening and she'd forgotten to check if he was in the bed last night. He could have been anywhere, sneaking into any place he wanted.

She knew what the Niwas trained their kids in. After all, she _was_ Emiko's cousin


	9. Kidnap

Dark paced his room, soon wearing a shallow hole in the carpet.

He wasn't having what he would call a good day. Heck, he wasn't having a good night. Now, if only he could figure out _why_ they'd killed Yuki, then he could rest until tomorrow. But, no. Life wasn't that fair. Besides, he still had half the house to explore (the place was pretty big).

And since he wasn't tired he couldn't close his eyes, because whenever he did he saw blood.

* * *

Mrs. Harada kept dropping Daisuke's feet, and it was becoming annoying.

She almost lost her cool again, but then remembered that Risa would feel it like a sharp kick in the head like she always did and would probably faze through a couple of floors before she caught herself.

She sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose and wondering how to get him downstairs.

"Harada-san?"

Mrs. Harada nearly cried in relief, meaning if you were very drunk and had a bag of crack before hand and were still able to stand, and you squinted and tilted your head _just_ right, you might have said her face twitched.

"Risa, carry him downstairs, please."

Risa took one look at who it was, before her eyes widened. "Is th--" She cut herself off, but her mother still turned to stare her in the eye. Or, rather, look down her nose at her.

". . ."

"I am sorry, that will not happen again."

"Good."

Then Mrs. Harada turned and left.

* * *

Risa winced to herself, hating what she was about to do.

She had always been the nice sister, the girly sister, a mixture of sexy and cute, while Riku was tomboyish, but _very_ cute at certain weird moments that endeared people to her. Riku was open about her feelings, Risa more reserved.

But, even though Riku sometimes yelled at people (and got away with a lot since their mother wanted Risa to take on the family burdens), they both hated to actually hurt people.

And the worse thing was she didn't have a choice.

* * *

Dark paused, taking time to slowly lift up his hand to rub his temple with slow, circular motions.

He was a twin, and that was the mental signal that Daisuke was in trouble.

The problem, though, and it was a big one, was that Daisuke hadn't been in this kind of trouble before.

Dark was good, but he couldn't know things without learning them first.

* * *

Krad paused in his art, wrinkling his nose in distaste.

He was a compulsive artist, painting anything that caught his interest and held it for any period of time. (Which was a feat in itself since he had a short attention span.) He'd let his mind wander for a second and his fingers made this piece of crap?

Truly, some would call it a masterpiece. The colors were a mixture of purples, blues, grays, and red, lighting perfect, shapes exact.

A man was laying on the ground in a crumpled position, longish hair (for a male) spread around his head like a purple halo, legs both bent awkwardly, looking broken, and his left hand was resting on his stomach. The background was gray, his clothes varying shades of dark blue and black (Goth clothes, really), and his eyes half closed. The right side had more shadow, meaning that eye was purple, but on the left side the light shone to make it an almost, not-quite red.

And the boy was bleeding.

A lot.

Look, it doesn't matter how good looking you are, or _what_ your hair looks like. If half your brains are scattered around the floor, that isn't a real good sign.

Besides, it looked dead, lifeless. He wanted his paintings to be full of life, something that people who knew art would like. Not something to load off on someone else just because they were uncultured.

Krad got out his darkest black, smearing it all over his picture till it was covered on all sides.

He thought it looked much better.

* * *

Risa struggled to move Daisuke into the cage, closing it after him and locking it with a hand print. She sighed to herself, depressed, then just stood there, waiting for her mother to come back.

* * *

Dark paused in treating his migraine, moving closer to the door with silent steps.

He thought he'd heard a sound, like voices.

_. . . There it is again._

He frowned, pressing his ear against the door, which was a doing a good job of hindering his hearing.

It was a low hissing, almost like Risa, and yet . . not.

* * *

Riku knew something was wrong when her mother came up the stairs, beckoning her to follow. After days of being stuck in the attic, she had every right to be suspicious.

"What is it?" she whispered.

"You must come downstairs."

A suspicion was starting to nag at her mind. "Is this about . . .what-his-name . . . Daisuke."

"Yes."

Riku stopped outside Darks room, refusing, pointblank, to move further.

"What?" This might have been a little too loud as Mrs. Harada sent her 'the look.'

"You will come downstairs."

Riku scowled. "No."

Mrs. Harada paused, already to the stairs, before whirling around and letting go of her emotions.

* * *

Dark stiffened as he heard a "Nngh" sound before a thump at the same time that a peculiar feeling passed over him, making him more awake. There was a pause before something that sounded like dragging made its way towards the stairs. Another pause.

Dark took this moment to quietly open his door.

A silhouetted Mrs. Harada was paused at the top of the stairs, seeming to consider what she could to get whatever she was dragging down.

Whatever it was, the part she was holding dropped from her grip, seeming to go through her hand. Dark almost blinked, but was glad he didn't.

As the legs fell and light fell onto her face, his breath did something totally cliché. Like catch in his throat.

The face was Risa's, but older and more mature, around his and his twins age (although maybe she was older, because she had the sort of face that could make her look younger). Her clothes looked dirty, and her hair was shorter than Risa's, choppier, with a redder tint.

He'd seen her last night, but not that well.

Mrs. Harada slumped a little before she bent down to grab the girl's legs again and set off down the staircase.

As he listened to the thumps of her head hitting the stairs, wincing at every one, he decided Mrs. Harada could safely be called insane and stepped across the hall to his brothers room.

"Daisuke?"

* * *

AN: sakurafairy: Satoshi will come in at the end.


	10. No Longer Quite So Silent

_Mrs. Harada, in her younger days, could have been considered a genius. She took math, science, and psychology in vast amounts, learning anything she could and actually enjoying it. Eventually, though, she settled down with a wealthy man who she was pretty sure she loved and was pretty sure he loved her, though she knew love would never play a part in anything._

_It was an arranged marriage, and the only thing her parents really cared about was the continuation of blood . . . and money. And they ingrained that fact into her head from a very young age to make sure she wouldn't be too upset about the whole 'engaged-to-someone-you-don't-know' fiasco._

_Her life was a good one. Her husband was kind, and when she gave birth to twin daughters he was ecstatic._

_But good things do not last forever. None do._

_She was eight months into her second pregnancy when she heard news of her husband dying in a plane crash on his way home. She was, of course, devastated, and it had effects on the baby._

_A stillborn baby boy was the thing that actually made her crack, though she hid it well enough._

_She wasn't called a genius for nothing._

* * *

Risa glanced up at her mother, tearing her eyes away from the machine that looked like a mouth. Her eyes widened again at who her mother was carrying, and she almost said something before she remembered the threat from earlier and shut her mouth.

Mrs. Harada dropped her older daughter and waved her hand. "Put her in, too." Risa wordlessly dragged her sister over by her arms, not wanting to hurt her head anymore than the bruises already there. She placed her hand on the scanner, concentrating to keep Riku up and make her hand solid. (She had once not been paying attention and had her hand go through the scanner, setting off all the alarms. Her mother had not been pleased.)

The scan complete, the lock clicked open, and she pushed it away before setting Risa carefully on the metal floor next to Daisuke.

* * *

Dark was systematically checking all the rooms.

After the first three seconds of wondering why Daisuke wasn't in his room, followed by a minute of freaking out, Dark came to the conclusion that Mrs. Harada or Risa must have taken him somewhere.

Sadly, by that time Mrs. Harada and the girl-who-looked-like-Risa (he supposed it was Riku, although they certainly didn't _look_ like they were born at the same time) were gone, but at least he had a starting point.

It was downstairs and near the stairway itself, for with the way Mrs. Harada was dragging her they couldn't have gone all the way to the other side of the house.

He felt all along the walls for anything that could indicate a door, his sensitive fingers feeling the things his eyes couldn't see.

He paused at the feeling of a bump, running up and down perfectly vertical to the ground. About six feet from the ground it turned suddenly horizontal.

It felt like someone had put too much plaster on a crack to make it unnoticeable, but unknowingly giving even more of a clue.

Dark smirked . . . before pausing. His face got a weird look to it as he thought back. . . .

* * *

"_Daisuke?"_

* * *

There was a long pause, as the boy forgot what he was doing for a moment at the implications of that.

". . . YES! I CAN TALK!"

* * *

Mrs. Harada paused, cocking her head to the side.

_Was that . . . Dark?_

She glanced over at Risa, and her eyes narrowed. "_Please_ stop biting your lip. It's not like you _murdered_ someone."

Risa stopped biting her lip and flinched, glancing at her mother before looking away. Mrs. Harada knew that was mean. And she couldn't say she cared much.

She shrugged mentally, turning back to sip at her tea while not paying much attention. The drink slipped through her body to splatter on the floor beneath her.

_Must have been my imagination. He can't talk._


	11. Flashback Mode

_Mrs. Harada tweaked the screw one more time, tightening it to impossible tightness, all in the name of family._

_Since the loss of her child and mental deterioration since then, she had come up with a great idea. A stupid idea. And idea that could change the way people lived. A machine. A machine built for one purpose and one purpose only._

_Looking after _her_ incredibly cute Risa-chan and Riku-chan._

_She pushed her glasses up her nose to rub at her eyes, images blurring before her from lack of sleep. She took them off, setting them off to the side next to the floor to get a better look at her creation._

_It was metalic, a huge gaping metalic mouth with long, rubber-insulated wires that connected to a pair of protective goggles. (Not the best look, to be sure, but this stuff wasn't as likely to melt as her reading glasses.) A red button on front said, in capital letters, PRESS TO ACTIVATE. She didn't like that button very much, since she'd had to move some stuff on the inside meaning no room for this all-important button and had to move it outside, and it threw the whole color scheme off. Next time she'd just have to make it bigger, because, yes, she was going to get a copyright and mass produce this and make millions, thank you very much. The company was already sold because it was losing them precious money, but they had enough to keep going for quite a while, even with their expensive tastes._

_. . . All right, _her_ expensive tastes. Her daughters just didn't understand the fine art of shopping for the right gown with matching shoes and purse, though Risa had lots of potential._

_She tiptoed into the mouth, glancing back at her papers. All the equations _seemed_ right, but that was debatable. What she was doing was supposed to be impossible, and it still might be._

_Science could only get you so far._

_Mrs. Harada slipped the goggles over her eyes, adjusting them to the perfect fit. She nodded to herself, reaching out to press the red button before snatching back her hand._

_Electrons started buzzing and atoms flew through the air, energy itself expanding and shrinking as space bent and fluctuated to accommodate this new machine._

_Mrs. Harada could feel her mind turning to mulch before she shoved the energy back. Or tried. A little bit still got through and started to eat at her mind, but that tingly feeling was ignorable. On the other hand, those pictures flashing through her mind were not. Things she'd long since forgotten all of a sudden appeared like they'd happened a second ago._

_But she didn't have time for this. As pictures randomly flashed across the insides of her goggles she felt around for the controls. This was the most dangerous part, actually, since if she made a wrong move and touched something she wasn't supposed to the whole place could blow sky high._

_But that day was her lucky day. Her hands skimmed over the metal, landing on what felt like a lever. She pictured Riku in her mind, going over every detail she could so as not to see something she didn't want, and pulled the lever._

_The electrons had, moments before, stopped bussing. But now they had a message, and the atoms moved all around, creating a cloud around Mrs. Harada and the thing she wanted to see._

_The forgotten memories stopped, changed, and were forgotten again._

_She was looking into a room, baby blue walls, dresser, closet, everything. A figure lay beneath baby blue sheets, breathing deeply and calmly, short hair spread out on the blanket beneath her._

_Mrs. Harada sighed in relief. Her baby was fine._

_Now for the other one._

_She pushed the lever this time. The buzzing stopped._

_She had Risa in her head, brown eyes, black hair, fluffy pajamas, and her bunny socks she wore to bed._

_The image was as clear as it had been for Riku, but . . . it wasn't Risa._

_The girl in the image had short hair, and freckles all across her nose, which Risa most certainly _did not_ have. And her bunny socks were a florescent pink and absolutely horrid looking with her skin type._

_And now Mrs. Harada proceeded to scan her mind for other images of Risa, or, more accurately, her personality. A brave girl, cutesy, maybe a bit envious of her sister, and, having fallen in love a total of sixty-seven times, "wise" in the ways of love. A lot of dresses, and a bow._

_The machine was, essentially, a link between places, using a thing so small to take pictures and transmit images into the brain. These things were called atoms, the smallest matter that still had the attributes of an element. They had no brains to speak of, but the pictures always came in clear. And this picture scared Mrs. Harada._

_Risa was alone. At night. Sitting next to a lake and looking far too pretty for her own damned good. Her dress wasn't slinky, but her arms were bare and her legs were crossed in front of her, shoes off and dress pushed up so she could make small ripples in the lake._

_But the most important facts of all were that she was a girl and _alone_. Men were perverts, she knew that very well. Her husband, even though he said he loved her, had had about seven whores on a first name basis before she started sleeping in the same room with him, and she still didn't know what he'd done on business trips._

_She felt a deep sadness, and then very, very great rage._

_The electrons connected to her brain exploded. And, in sequence, the atoms changed. And, in a very bad move on the part of the universe that was very sadistic, the ones connected to the machine also changed. And some exploded. And some melted. And others bent time and space._

_

* * *

_

_Risa woke up very groggy. She wasn't sure what had happened, but she had been hit with a very hot feeling before . . . something . . . weird happened. It was like she was being turned inside out and then torn apart piece by piece until nothing was left._

_It wasn't very pleasant._

_She groaned, rubbing her head with her hand before reaching behind her to lift herself up._

_Her arm went back farther than expected and she gasped, opening her eyes wide before—_

"_AARGH!"_

_She sat up, and immediately saw the night sky. Blinking she leaned back down, only to see the ground again. Not like looking down at the ground. Like cutting off half of the world to see what was inside._

_And it scared her._

_

* * *

_

_Mrs. Harada was very angry at her. She yelled and slapped and took away her presents and allowance for a whole year, even taking her down into the lab to test why they could suddenly walk through walls at will and didn't need to sleep. School life resumed again in fall, and years passed, Mrs. Harada's sanity being chipped away like an old, worn boulder, finding fault in the tiniest things. Risa was getting angry, because, as years passed, she and Riku became more and more different. Riku went through the awkward stage, the growing stage, and even the pimple stage, while she stayed the same! A cute little girl who was fast growing annoyed with her twin and her looking nothing alike!_

_And it was when she was fifteen that she finally realized that she and her mother didn't age._


	12. Wake Up

Dark winced slightly and stopped his hand just in time. He'd felt the tiny tremor that went through the steel signaling that it was about to squeak.

He glanced at the opening.

The good news was, it was possible for someone to get through that opening. Too bad Dark wasn't bulimic _or_ anorexic. He wasn't an octopus, either.

He scowled to himself, and for his own sake, just to make sure he still could, he muttered, "This is going to take a bit."

* * *

Riku woke up slowly, the layers of fog around her consciousness clutching onto her memories very determinedly.

After what seemed like forever she could actually move her neck to glance around. And, wow, what a beautiful cage. At least she had a companion, who was that cute little boy with red hair.

Then it hit her. The reason she was here.

She was twenty-three, for Christ's sake! Why did her mother think she could do this to her? Making her—her—just—UGH! With this little kid?

She glanced over.

_Well. . . . He is very cu—NO! I did **not** just think that! No! Mother is psychotic and needs help! I will not have sex with a sixteen-year-old just because she's obsessed with the "continuation of our blood"!_

With that in mind, she started looking for a way out without alerting her mother to her emotions. Specifically those of urgency and fear.

* * *

Mrs. Harada set down her tea, rubbing her head. _Odd. . . ._

She walked quickly over to the door outside, going slower and slower as she neared the entrance. The stairs leading up to the first floor were very creaky, but, since she had no weight to speak of, nothing happened.

She paused at the door, seemingly listening for something, before . . .

BAM!

The door bounced off the wall and plaster flaked down to the floor. But there was no one there.

_I . . . was so sure. . . ._

Mrs. Harada hesitated, looking around the room carefully, but, really, there was nowhere to hide.

She closed the door.

* * *

Dark dropped down from the ceiling on cat feet, breathing deeply.

* * *

Risa gave her mother an odd look from her position on the floor as she came back down the stairs seemingly not paying attention. These thoughts were quickly remedied as Mrs. Harada walked calmly over to where Risa was and slapped her.

"Hurry up."

And then she walked away.

Risa froze, thinking things over. Her arm propped up her head up as she swished the dripping cloth through the tea before remembering herself and getting another dry one from a stack of shelves over by the south wall to soak up more of the liquid.

_If someone would just remember to keep her mind on keeping something _inside_ of her body instead of just holding the cup then there wouldn't be a problem! Couldn't you concentrate at _least_ until the bathtub? Or a shower?_

She was lucky Mrs. Harada wasn't paying attention to the emotions running through her brain, or she might have killed her.


	13. The First Death

Riku glared at the scanner. That one, thin piece of metal was enough to keep her from escaping and getting help.

Stupid scanner.

And stupid, stupid _mother_ for thinking she could command her and her sister like dolls! Like-like-something less than dolls! But what was less than dolls. . . ?

* * *

Risa was a kind girl. Not overly so, but better than a lot of people. She was selfish, as every human was, and had her own faults. But she tried.

And that made all the difference.

And like every other human, she had at least one weakness. One was boys. And one was three minute eggs. Now, that last secret she carried to her grave (figuratively). Only one person knew of it and that person was in her family. It wasn't her mother.

This brings us to her next weakness: Riku.

She cared about her sister, so much so that she would willingly die for her. Riku was tomboyish and rash, letting her emotions rule her, but she had a good heart. Selfish, sure, but, as stated previously, who isn't? Deep down in the heart there is always some desire for ones own self.

Risa was also having a horrendous day.

So that's why, as she passed the cage on her way to get another rag to mop up the spill, she concentrated on making herself totally solid for just a second before moving on as if nothing had happened.

The lock clicked, and the door swung just the tiniest bit open.

Risa didn't even have to look behind her to know that Riku was staring at her incredulously for just a second before bolting, leaving the door open for a boy that would hopefully wake up soon.

* * *

Dark slipped in unnoticed, perhaps because of the fact that Mrs. Harada was stroking a wrench with a faraway look in her eye.

He decided to forget that, as he'd really rather not know.

He jumped onto the huge wires hanging from the ceiling that were bringing electricity and water to different places. They were big and springy, and he made no noise as he carelessly walked along.

He was aiming for the wall on the opposite side of the room nearer the cage. Even from that far away he could see cracks and holes in the cement, from what he didn't know.

And then he looked down, and blinked.

* * *

Riku climbed up the wall, readied herself, then jumped to the nearest (and lowest) rubber wire. She wrapped her arms around it before nearly falling off. She almost grunted before heaving herself upright.

She relaxed a bit and glanced down. Her mother was just . . . standing there, and she knew from experience that that was never a good thing. Risa had once. . . .

Wait.

Risa had let her go.

Riku paused to adjust her thoughts, before standing up, wobbling as she tried to get her footing.

Risa had saved her, so . . . what? Did she forgive her for killing someone just because she had saved her own sister?

Riku knew that was a little harsh, but _nothing_ excused killing someone.

Right?

She put one foot forward, paused, and then put her other foot forward before pausing again. She did this about ten times before she became confident in her abilities to not fall to her death (as she was quite high up) and didn't pay quite as much attention as she should have to the metal segment just barely sticking up about five feet away.

It was at about this point that Dark looked down and blinked.

It was also around this time that Riku tripped over the metal and started falling to almost certain death.

She was too scared to even scream as she glanced up—er—down at the concrete floor rushing towards her. Her body went rigid at the same time as her mind went blank. _This sucks_ might have been her last thought . . . until she felt something grab her shoulders in an iron grip and a strong influence force her whole body to turn away from the ground. She blinked as she felt something under her, before—

SPLAT

—that.

She's landed on something soft and slightly squishy. She blinked up at the red drops that were slowly coming down after flying up, not wanting to think about what that might mean.

And then the red drops nearly fell into her eyes.

She jumped up and scrambled away from what she'd fallen on, wiping away the blood from her face. Her back hurt, and so did her head and left wrist, but nothing seemed broken.

Riku looked at what she'd landed on, paled, and ran up the long stairs in ten seconds flat, not daring to look behind her at her other second cousin, his brains splattered on the floor and his hair making a demented purple halo, obviously dead.

* * *

Mrs. Harada didn't notice anything. She stared into space, then slowly turned towards her machine.


	14. The Terrible Ending With New Characters

Riku skidded into the house's rather large kitchen, glancing around with harried motions before cursing and doubling back the way she came, not finding what she was looking for on the first floor and so running up the stairs to the second floor.

There seemed to be no phones anywhere in the house, or if there were phones in the house they weren't where they were supposed to be.

Riku gasped and fell forwards on the sixteenth step, twisting her ankle when she attempted to stop herself and straining her left wrist even more.

She froze in pain for some minutes, her mouth open but no sound coming out. Once she'd collected herself she rose shakily to her feet, grabbing the handrail. She forced herself up the stairs in the hopes of there being a phone in her mother's study, because she absolutely _refused_ to believe that Dark was dead.

* * *

Mrs. Harada didn't know what she was doing. She felt herself reaching for the goggles and putting them on, felt herself extend a finger to press the red PRESS TO ACTIVATE button. And yet as she tried to stop herself she knew it was useless.

Everything seemed pointless. She'd seen the open cage door, and knew that no matter what she did something bad would happen to her, but she'd never considered herself suicidal.

The world was a blur. She couldn't see, couldn't hear, couldn't taste, and couldn't feel. Maybe she'd already pressed the button and was now looking at the swirling things she'd forgotten. Maybe now she was pulling the lever to let her see. Or maybe she pulled the wrong lever and now was being burned up like so many falling stars.

She didn't even know what she was looking for.

She'd felt different this past week. More forgetful, fragile, and, although she would only admit this to herself subconsciously, insane. Maybe that meant that she was finally ending and could rest in peace.

But was there truly any peace?

That small amount of energy that had invaded her brain so long ago ate away at her personality, took away her right to exist, and used her body to push the red button.

Then it used her hand to pull a lever. The wrong one.

* * *

Risa glanced at her mother and blinked as Mrs. Harada seemingly floated to the scary machine. She didn't look like she was paying much attention anymore, so. . . .

Risa dropped her rag and hurried over to the cage that Daisuke was still unconscious in. She smoothed back his bangs. She frowned, wrinkled her brow, and plugged his nose while holding his mouth shut.

There were approximately ten seconds of silence before Daisuke's eyes popped open and he gave her a wide eyed look. Risa let go of his nose and he breathed in rapid succession, his eyebrows knitting.

"We need to leave," she whispered, glancing at her mother. She blinked as Mrs. Harada pulled on an ugly pair of goggles.

Daisuke nodded and she let go of his mouth while placing a finger to her lips. She helped him up with her right hand as her left hand and right foot felt a phantom pain. She wondered if Riku was alright.

Risa had been worried when she'd realized they'd have to pass within ten feet of Mrs. Harada, but there seemed to be no need for fear. Mrs. Harada was reaching for a throng of levers slowly, as though mentally fighting with herself. Daisuke was being unusually quiet behind her as they rounded the corner that would lead them to the stairs.

The last thing she ever heard was Daisuke's gasp, and the last thing she ever saw was Dark's mutilated body, a lone eye staring at her and glinting a dark red in the light.

* * *

Riku panted as she pushed open the door, leaning upon it heavily. Sweat poured down her face in buckets and her red face was set in a grimace. But at least this room had a phone.

She hopped over, using the wall for a support. When she reached the desk she pulled out the rolling chair and plopped herself into it, letting her heart rate get back to normal.

After her brief rest she picked up the phone and dialed the first number that came to her in that moment that might help. 911.

After half a ring there was a click as someone picked up. The person on the other end breathed in as though they were about to say something, but Riku beat them to it.

"Hello. This is Riku Harada, and I—"

* * *

There was a pulse, a slight shimmering of air that expanded to the edges of the yard and held for the briefest of moments.

Then the house blew up.

* * *

Satoshi scowled to himself as the firemen shut off the spray of water. The house in front of him was little more than a skeleton now, and only a few shrubs had survived at all. The neighbors, curious about what started the fire, gathered around the irate detective.

He said something about having no evidence to go on yet before crossing the yellow tape just to get away from them.

A news van pulled up.

"SATOSHI!" yelled the ever excitable Takeshi. He jumped over the yellow tape, pulling out a microphone from thin air and exclaiming to the camera man, "Hello! We're here at the Harada house fire. Mr. Harada has been dead some years now, and his wife and two daughters are—"

"Miyuki, Yuuji, detain him, please," said Elliot, scratching his head. He glanced over at the young detective, sighing. "So . . . what do you think?"

Satoshi glanced at him from the corner of his eye.

"Don't give me that look," Elliot commanded. "Even my Freedert knows that you can figure things out in a glance if you want to."

Satoshi blinked his blue eyes back towards the house. He'd been a little distracted since his brother's call earlier, exclaiming something _very **loudly**_ that sounded suspiciously like, "MY PICTURE WAS _DEAD_!"

Although he couldn't be sure because he'd hung up less than three seconds after picking up.

"It could have been electric, since Saga said he got a call from Harada Riku earlier, but. . . ." His eyes mover from the ground up, to the nearly untouched attic. "That wouldn't make sense, since the fire started from below the ground." He started to mutter to himself, and then got really quiet. His eyes narrowed. "Is there a basement to this house?"

Elliot blinked, thought about it, and shook his head. "Not in the original planning, no. And there's no record of one ever being built."

Satoshi nodded, but still looked thoughtful. "I'd like a clean-up crew to move this stuff as soon as you can get them."

Elliot nodded. "Okay."

* * *

The only body they ever found turned out to be Riku's, her charred remains holding a phone to her head. There was no sign of Dark, Daisuke, Risa, or Mrs. Harada. It seemed as though they'd vanished from the earth.

Satoshi tried everything he could think of. He even looked into their dead lawyer's family, although they were either very secretive and wouldn't give him any answers or sidetracked him with their kindness or, on one occasion, thought he was very hot and nearly killed him.

Even years later, when he looked back at it, he ended up with dead ends everywhere he turned to for answers.

By the time he died, it was still the only case he hadn't solved.

* * *

_Fin_

* * *

AN: . . . In my defense, I never was very good at endings.


End file.
